Fabric Outlet, People Less IKEA & A Mall Walk
On a mall walk inside a newer wing at Brookfield Square. Apparently having murals of Wisconsin themed activities makes up for the loss of most retails store in this mall.
Well hey there! It’s been a month since my last blog post. I’ve been busy recovering from the Holidays, the New Year and this very cold winter season. I’ve posted several videos and a few shorts on YouTube, since my last blog post. When it’s cold out, I don’t do hikes as much as I usually do. Going to malls helps me keep my walking current. Attached are 3 different adventures I’ve had in the past 2 weeks. Each are video shorts, so they won’t take too much of your time and gives you a glimpses of what my life looks like when I’m out and about.
Two weekends ago, I ventured down to Vernon Hills, IL and took a 2 mile walk at Hawthorne Shopping Center. It’s going through a redevelopment stage, but there is still enough space to walk indoors. After, I decided to get a bite to eat at Panda Express. In my FaceBook feed appeared a fabric outlet called Loomcraft. I’ve heard of them before, but had no idea it was located in Vernon Hills, IL. Checked my maps app and it turned out to be .25 miles away. Naturally I had to go!
I always thought that S.R. Harris near Minneapolis was the largest outlet for woven, printed duck and upholstery fabrics. I guess not. lol…. This place had so much 58” home dec fabric and I almost lost my mind. When I found out that the clearance section was all $5 a yard, I knew I might be in trouble. Luckily they closed in 20 min and I set a budget of $30. Loomcraft is a chain of stores through out the country. I remember there being a small shop near Wauwatosa, WI which is in the Milwaukee metro area. Most definitely worth a trip down there again. If you are near Lake or Cook County, IL make sure to check it out.
My next adventure for a little indoor walk was at our local IKEA store in Oak Creek, WI. Walking the maze is about .75 miles so it’s a decent place to go on a week night when there aren’t many people shopping. This particular night was Thursday and it was literally empty in the show room. Not a single customer or employee was found in the first half of the maze. It seemed they were all in the Market Place and the warehouse. This is always a great opportunity to take video and photos and not be a nuisance to anyone else shopping. It was so super quiet. It’s really the best time to shop at IKEA. Usually it’s Sunday nights, but not this particular week. I’m one of those IKEA shoppers that will make a trip just to get a package of napkins or baggies. For me, IKEA is like Target, I go there so often, that I don’t need a reason to shop there.
My last adventure as an indoor mall walk at the almost abandoned Brookfield Square Mall in Brookfield, WI (just west of Milwaukee). I used to shop here with my parents in the 70’s & 80’s…back in the day when water features in malls were very common and a two story oil lamp that housed different birds inside it’s oily webbed structure. Of course it had been remodeled in the late 90’s to a prairie architecture style. All water features removed except for a cascading water wall mounted on the side of JCPenny. No surprise that water features no longer works either. It still makes a nice place to walk in the winter. There is about 10 chain stores left in mall including the two anchors JCPenny and Barnes & Noble. Marcus Movie Tavern and Whirly Ball are located in the old Sears Store. Boston Store has been vacant since 2018 and just in the past two months the building of that store has been demolished. Not sure why, but the mall has contracted about 6 restaurants to wrap around the outdoor exterior of the mall and several stores. Red Robin, Cooperhawks, Bravo, Uncle Julio’s, Chick-fil-a, Outback Steak House, Bar Louie name a few. In addition, Brookfield opened a convention center and hotel where the old Toy’s R Us was located just outside of the mall. All this while, the interior mall keeps closing additional stores. It’s kind of a head scratcher. I just don’t get it. The food court is so beautiful and it’s also desolate.
There is two places to eat at the Brookfield Square Food Court. Neither are brand names and the Charley’s Cheesestake is also gone. Made Chicken and Auntie Ann’s Pretzel are the only two that I could recognize and they are not attached to the food court.
Anyway, seeing malls go to abandoned status is so difficult when it’s in an area you grew up in. I’m hoping the mall owners have plans for this mall when the last mall shop closes. It’s such a beautiful place and used to be fun to shop. Now it’s a great place to walk and go see a movie!
Once again, thanks so much for taking the time to check out on my adventures here and on my YouTube channel. Please leave comments below on where your favorite winter hang out is where you live. I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks and big hugs,
Scott - The Quilting Camper